Undeniable

Chapter 3: Motivation

I flash my eyes open as the outside moonlight catches my eyes. In the small chair next to me, my mother smiles, "Glad to see you're finally awake, good morning sunshine." She says sarcastically. "How long was I asleep?" I say as I rub my eyes. "Well, you were sleeping when I came, and that was seven hours ago." She says as she puts down her puzzle book. "Seven hours?!" My mom chuckles at me. "Well, I know you pushed yourself like always when they did your physical therapy, so it makes sense your body would rest for so long." She says as she rubs her hands through my hair. She isn't lying.

All of my life I've always pushed and worked hard to get what and where I want. That's what my dad always told us, "You can do and be anything you want as long as you work hard to get it" He told me that up until his last breath. I can hear him now in the back of my head with his thick Italian accent.

I smile to myself and look at my mom. "Well, you know me mom, I'm a Ramono, just like dad." She playfully hits my arm and says "Yeah yeah, don't forget you're a Balderas too, that Spaniard blood runs deep in your veins, and I'm a hard worker too. Don't think dad was the only one who gave you that spice mija." She says with a smug look on her face.

She's right. Mom moved from Spain to the States when she was 6 years old. They were poor and came with nothing. She told Anna and I so many stories about how hard my grandma and grandpa used to work just to make sure there was enough food on the table. She'd tell us how she used to help out in the little clothing store grandma and grandpa opened with the money they scraped from working two jobs. She grew up poor and always told us she never wanted that for my sister and I. So she worked really hard, met my dad, got married, and ended up opening a tailer business together in downtown LA. They saved up and bought a big, old, Victorian home in Beverly Hills, where Anna and I grew up.

After dad died, things got tough on mom. She started getting behind on payments, and things in the house kept breaking, so she had to dig into the savings from the business she and dad had put aside for Anna and I to go to college. I told mom not to worry about me, and I was able to get into college on a paid scholarship. I told mom to use the money left over to get Anna into college instead. James has been helping out with my mom, giving her money here and there to help her get caught up on the payments. I'm so thankful for him.

I smile at my mom and look down. "Mom, thank you for always being here for me, and working so hard for Anna and I. I know it wasn't easy when dad died, having to manage everything on your own, and thanks for being here with me through this whole ordeal." My mom stares at me and pats my hand. "Amor, you know you don't have to thank me. I'm your mother and I would do any and everything for my children." She kisses my head and stands up."I have to get going Olive, Your sister is at home waiting for me to get back. James will be here soon. I love you and I'll see you tomorrow." She gives me one last kiss and waves goodbye before she leaves.

I grab the remote and turn on the tiny tv dangling on top of the ceiling. I click through until I find a channel that's not fuzzy or boring. I change to the news and see a story about a car chase. A few minutes pass by and James comes in with something behind his back. "Hey babe, I'm back, I brought you something." As he gets closer, he reveals to me what he's holding. It's a pair of fuzzy black slippers. He puts them on my feet and sits next to me. "Thanks, amor," I say as I lean over and kiss his cheek. "No problem. I can't stay long, I have to get up for work really early and you know the traffic right now is horrendous." He says rubbing his temples. "I know, don't worry about it," I say as I hold his hand.

We just sit there watching the chase on tv. I never understood why these people run from the police. The same thing always happens, they either (A) run out of gas or (B) get into an accident. It's so funny to me that the news stations even film these things. It makes me think, is it even really news at this point? It's just the same story over and over again.

Twenty minutes fly by before I know it, and James has to leave."I'll see you tomorrow," He says as he kisses me. He starts walking towards the door and I stop him. "James wait!" He turns around with a puzzled look on his face. "Does something feel.....I don't know, like, off to you?" I say as I look away from him. He stares at me for a long time. It feels like forever. I'm anxiously waiting for him to say something back. Then, finally, he takes a deep breath and says, "Yes. What's off is that you aren't home where you belong, but once you're better, we can go home, and everything will go back to the way it was." He says with a smile on his face. That's all I need. James' reassurance, warmth and love. With that, nothing else matters. He blows a kiss my way and says "Don't worry babe, everything will be okay once you come home." I nod and lay back down. He leaves the room and I'm filled with so much confidence that I can't wait for tomorrow to come.

I tell myself tomorrow's the day that I go home. But something inside me won't let me wait until tomorrow. I want to get up and get going. James' words lit a fire in my heart and soul, and tell myself I have to get up. I flop my legs over the side of the bed, grab onto the bed rails and lift myself up.

"I'm standing," I think to myself, and I inch my way over to the intravenous pole where my IV is hanging. I grab onto it using both of my hands and support my weight, then I slowly start walking inch by inch, step by step, until I start moving around. Sweat starts to bead down my face, and I'm straining to push myself as much as I can. My legs start to wobble and I start slipping down the pole, but I hold on tighter and think of James. I get a rush of strength through my whole body and pull myself up. I take bigger steps until I've completely made it out of the hospital room.

The nurses on the night shift all notice me walking and stand with their mouths open, but I'm so focused I don't even notice. Two of them follow close behind me as I go. I make it all the way to the elevator doors and finally, my legs go out. As I fall, the two nurses catch me before I hit the ground. As they lift me up and help carry me back to my room, everyone starts applauding but I'm so out of breath I can't even get a thank you out.

The nurses put me back in my bed and I tell them "thank you." They smile and go back to their stations. I'm so tired I can't help but close my eyes, ready to sleep again, but at that moment I think to myself that James would be so proud of me if he saw what I had done. I'm anxious about tomorrow and I can't wait to go to physical therapy so I can get out of this place. I lay down trying to will myself to go to sleep, but for some reason, I just can't sleep. I glance at the clock and it says 11:05 pm. Looks like it's going to be a long night.

My mom brought me a bunch of word searches to keep me occupied. I reach towards the overbed table and grab one of the books out of the bag she left for me, and start working on it. Before I know it, I'm asleep, and I wake up to the sunlight from outside. Dr. Forest walks in clapping his hands slowly. "I heard the big news," he says. "I'm impressed by how fast you're recovering. I think you may be able to go home by the end of the day if you promise to keep up your therapy at home." I blurt out, "I promise!" Dr. Forest laughs. "Slow down there Tiger, let's see how you do at physical therapy today, then we will go from there." He says as he lowers his glasses to look at my chart.

He calls Staci into the room. She hurries in and has that bright, white smile again. "Oh em gee Olivia! I heard the big news!" She squeals. I scratch the back of my head and say, "Oh, it was nothing, I'm just anxious to get back home." She smiles and says, "Now that's the spirit!" Dr. Forest looks back at me and says, "Are you ready to get going, Oliva? Staci's ready whenever you are." I nod to him and tell him I'm ready. Staci tries to lift me up into the wheelchair, but I stop her. "I've got it," I say as I use the bed railing to inch my way into the wheelchair. She throws her hands back and steps away with a big grin on her face.

Once I'm settled, she begins to push me toward the glass double doors of the physical therapy room. We go in, and this time she pushes me to the parallel bars. I decided last night that I'm going to push myself and make it all the way to the end of the bars so I can go home. Staci locks the wheelchair into place and I immediately push myself up from the handlebars of the chair and grab onto the parallel bars. She moves to the side of me, and I start inching my way, taking big steps over and over, until I almost make it to the end. Staci starts cheering me on, telling me I can do it and not to give up. She's giving me the courage to keep going.

Then, I think of James, my heart starts pumping, and energy rushes through me and I push myself more and more until I finally make it to the very end. I did it! I made it. Now I can go home and be with James.